I Love Dad, But
by Ensu
Summary: Fallout 3 Oneshot. Thalia would go to the ends of the earth to see her lost father again. When she finally reunites with him, though, an embarassing event reminds her that fathers, even in the Capital Wasteland, can make complete fools of themselves.


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fallout 3, Bethesda does, so don't even bother to ask…or sue.**

This has probably been the tenth time I scoured this abandoned house by now, and still, I haven't found the "Failsafe" that that crazy Old Lady Dithers told me about… I just wished that the lighting in the dark house was at least a bit better so I could see things much more easily.

I don't know why I choose to do this strange and boring task instead of making that Timmy boy cry for that evil demon child named Betty. At least making some innocent child bawl his eyes out would make me feel as if I _did _something—Instead of just standing around, looking for something that probably doesn't exist.

I straightened my sickeningly pink sun dress thoughtfully with a small frown on my face as I stared at the radio on the dusty table in front of me. A randomly placed cinder block was sitting on a small table beside the radio and a pitcher was perched right in front of the music holder. Whoever lived in this place before must've had really bad decoration skills.

I scratched my head wearily and shook away the thoughts dismissively.

Now wasn't the time to think of random items. There had to be some way to bring up that damn Failsafe...

I took a few weighted steps forward with a frustrated and worn sigh and placed my hand on the old radio dial that looked to be on the verge of popping off and breaking tragically in a climatic fashion.

Maybe some music could help soothe my hurting mind and perhaps make me able to figure out what the bloody hell I'm supposed to do in this uninhabited dark hole of a house. I hoped that the dial wouldn't break and end up with Betty suing me for breaking her radio.

I turned the dial.

I was expecting some calming, harmonious music to come from the radio but instead, I got a strange, high, beep sound that made my ears ring slightly yet painfully. I jumped from the sudden and assailing sound and backed up hurriedly, rubbing my ears to block the noise. As I scurried back from the assaulting noise, my back bumped gently into a conveniently placed table behind me, knocking over a Nuka Cola can that made a similar, yet lower, sound as the radio as it fell against the floor.

I stared at the fallen bottle for a moment, my mind suddenly flickering with an absurd but thinly possible idea. Honestly, what have I got to lose other than my last skinny, impossible thread of sanity? This flimsy plan is definitely, if not meaninglessly, worth a try…

I quickly picked up the bottle and walked over to the ancient, dying radio, and placed it beside the withering thing. I then gathered the other most random items I could manage to find scattered around the trashed living room, and lined them up in a neat row.

Alright… There was a creepy Garden Gnome, the random cinder block, the fallen Nuka Cola, the worn, dying radio, and the empty pitcher. I stared at the assorted line of items for a while before taking in a deep breath and began tampering with what I could…

* * *

Betty was whistling and smiling simply to herself as she gently poured her water to a few innocent daisies before her, her smile that of pure, malicious, contempt for the small plants before her and her watering contraption held in her grasp.

Whatever she wants and wills, _shall_ be taken seriously. Right now, she may grant the flowers pure life, but someday, she can starve the small plants, inflicting pain and suffering! She, or **he**, whichever you prefer, is the GOD of this simulation! What lives, lives! What dies, dies!... Until she resurrects the poor subjects of this crazed yet amusing simulation over again for another round of death and despair for the Vault 112 residents.

Betty, as the thoughts rampaged through her conscience, stomped on the flowers then, proving her internal conversations correctly by smashing and killing the daisies. What dies—dies.

Vault 112 is and shall forever be nothing but a never ending circle of life and death—right and wrong—Fun and boredom—Pain and pleasure.

Because, well, of course, Doctor Braun—Err—_Betty_—is in charge of this place's fun level and nothing can ever change that wonderful and endearing-!

A huge throb in the cool, calming air of Tranquility Lane had Dr. Braun stop in his maddened and crazed imaginings of his creepy yet absolutely addicting creation. He dropped the watering can he held in his grasp and it fell lightly into the crumpled remains of the dead, pathetic daisies he had disposed of many moments before.

He had looked behind his shoulder just in time to witness the gunfire fired from the Chinese Commandoes.

Someone had gotten into the Failsafe!

Dr. Braun couldn't control his lungs' way of breathing as he watched his Chinese Protocol, used as a last resort to end the Vault 112 nightmare once and for all-forever, lay waste to residents of Tranquility Lane. All of their fragile bodies tore violently apart from the bullets shearing through their bodies with such merciless force, that their pained, last screams were only heard for a split second before their lives ended.

"Who is responsible for this!" Dr. Braun dared to yelled, infuriated, in the air. He didn't even bother to conceal his deep, vibrato voice under his fake, child girl disguise of pretense.

Then, as if on cue, the cause of all of this madness, appeared. With a shocked look on her face as she hesitantly walked out of the abandoned house, the terrible perpetrator, Thalia, yelled out in sheer horror and shocked bewilderment:

"Daayum!"

I've seen my share of death and exploding bodies and soaring organs, but this was painful to watch all of these innocent, (And annoyingly happy), people slaughter right before my very brown eyes! I was on the verge of bawling like a pathetic baby but managed to hold the tears back as I clenched my fists steadily.

I ignored the foreign commands that the Chinese commandoes were yelling and muttering as they continued their siege upon Tranquility Lane. I walked forward quite simply, my heart beating in my fragile brain as I made my way to Betty.

I hoped with hopeful hope that my back wasn't about to be loaded with bullets… I didn't look forward to the day where my body is slaughtered with those deadly little things…

I made it across the street unscathed and walked with heavy steps to Betty who was looking upon all of the damage and death with a really pissed off expression on her demon child face.

I made sure that before I met up with Ms. Demon Child that I would gave a frightened Doc a few pats on his furry head. The dog looked up at me pleadingly with large brown eyes and for a moment I thought I was looking at my own eyes in some type of mirror—reflection. I paused for a moment, staring at him in uncertainty before shaking my head furiously and storming away from the whimpering dog.

_Thalia, you're freakingly insane enough, we don't need you imagining stupid things that are humanely impossible… You're dad can't be…_

By the time my mind stopped scolding itself, I was already standing in front of Betty who was taking in a deep breath to scream at me with. Oh joy. I looked up from my thoughts just in time to feel her breath sailing against my face in a full throated yelp.

"Do you realize what you have done? You've triggered the Failsafe—Ruined everything! The subjects will die and I'll be stuck in this hell! Alone!" I almost screamed in horror as a creepy, deep, man's voice replaced Betty's girly one. What the hell is wrong with this girl!

"You ruined everything! Everything!" She continued as I was taken aback from her manly voice. Lucky me, this time, her voice was a girl again, but I knew that more weird crap was about to pop up as I get deeper into this wonderful, enthralling conversation.

I recovered my voice in time to say sternly, "I'll put these people out of their misery. You're getting exactly what you deserve."

She was crying now, tears spilling down from her eyes and flowing freely down her reddened cheeks, "You've taken them all from me! You left me with nothing! It's not fair-Nobody to play with ever again…"

Her voice continued the peculiar alternation from grown male to adolescent girl, and I was used to it by now and not as disturbed by it as I thought I would've been.

"Tell me where my father is," I commanded sternly, my heartbeat vibrating my voice box, thus making it shaky—scared-overwhelmed. I was so close… So close… So close to Dad. The feelings travelling throbbing throughout my body were almost painful.

Betty smiled grimly, tears still taking their course down her face, "He has been here the whole time and you were too dense to figure it out. The dog you see—Man's best friend. But now you've taken all of _my friends_ away from me…"

I glanced behind my shoulder hesitantly yet curiously to see Doc sitting knowingly behind me, looking up at me with a doggy smile and a joking glint in his brown eyes.

Damn it, Dad, even in dog form, you find ways to mock me and my intellectual disabilities with your sarcastic facial expressions!

He must've read that message in my appalled face features because he looked away after a small, knowing mutter of a bark and a few wags of his tail.

"So, umm, I can leave?" I asked Betty hesitantly, fearing that she would keep Dad and I imprisoned in her hellfire of a playhouse as a replacement for all of the dead Vault residents that were all rotting on the pavement around us.

"Yes…Yes… Now leave me…" Betty's voice was a mere whisper, "You're father should be waiting for you once you leave the simulation. The entrance out of here is right beside me, I advise you leave right away."

I stared at the pained girl, feeling sorry for her, despite the fact that in reality, she was a psychotic Dr. Braun that made this simulation just to amuse his own self for countless, endless, years. Even _he, _a sadistic _bastard,_ deserved a better fate than endless loneliness for the rest of his life which was probably going to last for many more generations.

This was probably the only time I wished death upon someone purposely.

Death _must _be a better fate than this that had been laid out for him.

My lips were dry as I replied, "Thank you…and… I'm sorry."

He snorted humorlessly, "Get out."

I finally obeyed and looked away from Dr. Braun, or Betty, honestly, I don't know what to call the child before me anymore. To the side of Betty, my eyes met a conveniently and randomly placed door that must've been the entrance that Dr. Braun talked about.

Freedom.

My fingers grabbed the doorknob and I felt incredible, hopeful, warmth overtake me as I swung the door open, almost breaking its imaginary, and computer generated hinges.

This was it…

A blinding light overtook me as I stepped through the door, interrupting me in the middle of a breath with a vice grip—suffocating me as I left the morbid Tranquility Lane and the sadistic Betty behind me.

Time to meet up with Dad.

The light cleared away slowly and my vision came back just in time to see the computer monitor that had given me access to the simulation of Tranquility Lane slowly back away from my face with a few creaking and squeaking noises. I had to blind multiple times to make sure my mind was clear again before I slowly climbed out of the cushioned seat I had been sitting in for God knows how long.

My legs were mindlessly shaking and irritatingly numb as soon as my feet slammed into the dusty floors of Vault 112. I almost fell over with the terrible feeling and I almost slammed my face into the hard floors, but Dad's arms stopped me from descending into that painful thought.

"You've saved me…" He whispered into my dark brown hair, his voice relieved, "I thought I was going to be trapped there forever."

I wasn't really paying attention to his relieved words since I was more occupied with his fatherly warmth in his big hug. I thought I would never hug my stubborn mule of a father ever again…

I finally was forced to listen when he pulled me away from the embrace. His face looked sad as he looked down at my shortness with his tall height.

"It's so good to see you but… _What are you __doing __here!_"

My face stung with embarrassment and turned beet red. I did disobey him… I have the full right to be ashamed of myself for going against his wishes of safety for my life. He also had the right to be as angry with me as he wants.

…Still, if it weren't for me, he would probably still be on four legs and with a tail… Both of us needed to take that into mind before we go off into an argument of some sorts.

"I came here to find you," I replied slowly, carefully finding words to reply so I wouldn't be in any deeper bat guano than I'm already in.

He paused momentarily before sighing and smiling, "Well, I'm glad you did. This isn't exactly how I expected things to turn out, I wasn't ready for Braun, or I might've fared better."

I smirked playfully before laughing, "Good thing I showed up to save you... _Doc_."

"It certainly is!" He let out a calm chuckle, his chocolate brown eyes shining, "Ah, it feels great to be on two legs again! And thanks to Dr. Braun, I know that Project Purity isn't lost after all!"

Oh dear God, he is still going to go at it? Didn't this simulation that just happened teach him that chasing after Project Purity is going to char is arse and kill him someday soon? Yet… This is dad I'm speaking of here, he is determined and stubborn. He would rather die than give up one of his dreams to help mankind.

I sighed sternly before murmuring, "What did you learn?"

If Dad was going to risk his life for Project Purity, even after this sticky situation that he had gotten himself into, I'm going to risk my life as well and stand by his side. Let's face it, without me, Dad is going to just get in trouble again and he will most probably need me once more to yank him out of some other quicksand-like problem.

"I was right about Braun. The technology he developed is unstable, even dangerous, but it can be adapted for Project Purity. I need to return to Rivet City and talk to Madison. If we can find a G.E.C.K, we can make Project Purity work."

"So you're going back to Rivet City right now?"

"Yes, with what I've learned, Madison is sure to see that we can finally succeed where we failed in many years ago…" Dad's face softened and became thoughtful as he lowered his voice to a gentle tone, "I'd like you to come with me. I want you to be there when we open the Floodgates."

I sighed deeply and wearily as I closed my eyes for a brief second.

_"I will risk my life as well and stand by his side," I thought to myself with a deepened sigh._

I opened my eyes slowly and nodded to my father jubilantly, a small smile playing across my thin lips.

"Okay, let's head to Rivet City!"

I think both Dad and I were blinded for a good long seconds as the two of us slowly exited from Smith's Casey's Garage, or as we all truly called it, Vault 112. We both let out small gasps and shielded our eyes hurriedly before permanent damage could be made to our precious eyesight.

"Ah…Sunlight…" Dad sighed before hesitantly letting his hand fall to his side, his face content in feeling the sun's rays play across his white, lightless face that was in great need of the outdoors.

I stared upon the barren landscape, suddenly finding it beautiful now that I was reunited with my dear old pop. The sandy, dry ground that stretched for miles took a more golden, lustrous color—like honey. The dead bush a few inches away from me looked like the bearer of life to me, despite how dead it's leaves and needles were. Everything was hauntingly beautiful at that strange, unnatural moment. Sadly, I knew far too well that something life threatening like a bunch of murderous raiders or hulking Super Mutants would force me to crash painfully back to Post-Apocalyptic D.C…

Well, lucky me, it wasn't something dangerous that had me heart-wrenchingly return from my sudden reverie of the Capital Wasteland. Instead, it was something stupid, unneeded, and uncalled for.

"Thalia, sweetie, stay back," My father suddenly warned, drawing a gun from his side, "Danger is close."

"What is so dangerous…?" I looked forward, trying to see what was having my father get so worked up. All I could see were dead trees, bushes, earth… There was also a few dust clouds rolling over the deathly plains, but that was it.

"It's that Bloatfly over there! It's dangerous! Don't worry, I'll shoot it!"

"Are you sure you want to waste ammo on—"

My words didn't stop him though; he took up his gun quickly and stalwartly shot his rounds towards the innocent Bloatfly that was just a few, short yards in front of us. It amazed me greatly that I hadn't noticed that bugger earlier before this incident popped up. Yet, what amazed me even more was how Dad kept on freaking missing the bug with his gun. If he kept on missing his target with his shooting skills, he was going to run out of _needed _and _important _ammo in the matter of seconds! I was about to warn him of that terrible possibility, but he ran away from me before my urgent voice could reach him. Apparently enough, he had already wasted _all _of his ammo in that amount of minutes I had given him freely to make an ass of himself. If only I had told him to stop earlier!

So now, after figuring out his gun wasn't going to work, guess where he was running to? He was running back to the front entrance of the garage and when he made it there, he grabbed a near-by pipe to hold tightly in his hold before running forward again to reunite with the Bloatfly to continue his struggling battle, that, amazingly enough, was staying in the same spot, staring at us weirdly with its bug eyes.

The creature finally figured out that it was in danger finally when he saw my barking mad father return with a pipe that was ready to beat in his hands. It let out a high, frightened buzz before turning around and flying away, my embarrassing father tight on its heels…or…wings.

The two ran around in maddened, meaningless circles for a few long minutes as I sat back and watched the strange and peculiar event unfold before my very eyes, making my brain go perplexed and confused…as usual. This event, I knew, would make me look at my father differently from now on.

It was finally, after ten minutes of chasing, running, screaming, hopping, and circle paths, that I finally drew my .44 Magnum (Don't ask where I got it from, it's a secret) and shot the Bloatfly effortlessly, killing it instantly from the well aimed round. It let out a small squish noise before falling onto the ground with a small splat and a few twitches of its fragile, broken wings.

My father stared down at the body, his breathing ragged and body sweaty from running. He then looked up at me, face totally clueless to what amount of stupid and jackassdom that he had just caused for himself at that moment. Thank God there had been no witnesses other than myself.

We stood in silence for a few moments before the two of us shrugged to each other, not exactly knowing what to say to each other, before the two of us continued our journey to Rivet City again as if nothing had ever happened.

When I looked to my father in amazment as we continued our walk back to Rivet City, I prayed to God that my father would just stick to science and medicine from now on and never decide to become a fighter.

He could get killed if he tried to fight much **bigger, dangerous **things…

And Dad dying is the last thing I want.


End file.
